Category: magazines

There are 5, 372 sweaters I wish to knit in my lifetime.  I know this is an impossible number, made worse by the fact that I add new sweaters to the list far faster than I seem to knit them. 

My dreams are far more prolific than my hands can ever be.

The fall/winter Anny Blatt books arrived yesterday:

There are, of course several sweaters I might want to add to my list.

This one  and this one as well  are pretty likely to go on my list.  I am also rather fond of this cardigan, called Les Saisies although I do of course realize that the bobbles might be a bit excessive.  The nice thing about the sweaters in this book is they are, for the most part, knit out of fairly basic wools so it is easier to substitute yarns if I don’t find what I want.

The other Anny Blatt book, the designer collection, the one with the grey sweater on the cover, uses more unique yarns and some projects are harder to duplicate.   I actually am quite intrigued by the cover sweater and think it is quite interesting.  I would, of course, leave off the fur edging.   But there are several others I quite like, this one, called Albigeois is really lovely and I am strongly tempted to knit this one.  Anselme is also pretty interesting but I am not sure you can see the interesting texture created by the combination of yarns in this photo.  I also really liked Armelle  but the photo on the web looks a little unfortunate in the placement of the motifs.  I had not noticed this in the book itself.  There are several others but I am making no guarantees that I will actually order yarn (or find it in the stash) for any of these.  I always need a few days for the IDEA of the pattern to sink through the convoluted layers of my brain and make itself comfortable.

But I don’t think I will be bored with knitting, or run out of ideas, anytime soon.

I haven’t knitted half the things I wanted to knit for summer and I am already thinking about fall knits (and this despite the heat).

It started with the fall Knitscene which I picked up at Yarn Central the last time I was at knitting group. 

I probably don’t have to admit that I love the cover sweater.  It is very much a me kind of thing, not the least because they chose to make it in one of my favorite color combinations (can’t you tell from the bowl of my favorite summer soup:  Beet and Tomato).   There are at least four other sweaters I would knit, and even probably wear in that issue, which makes this a rare find for a knitting magazine.

And there are the ads! Well yes I know the magazine doesn’t help me with the ads.  But knitting magazines are like big dream generating machines aren’t they?  And all I had to do was open the cover and see this ad to know that I had to knit this sweater and that at least one more fall book will grace my shelves (who am I kidding?)

I also am attracted to the Classic Elite sweater at the back, but the photo shows some threat of bulkiness and I will probably have to look at the other patterns in the book first, before I can make any decision.

and the Fall Preview is up at Interweave Knits making promises of good things to come.  I find these previews difficult, sometimes they look promising until I see the magazine and then the actual design dissapoints, other times they live up to their promise.

Nonetheless, fall, at least sweater-wise, is on my mind.

When I was out shopping this past weekend, I saw this wonderful woven ottoman at Target.  Although I was really NOT looking for anything for the house, it struck me that this would be a perfect solution for a yarn storage problem that has been on my mind of late.

When I redid the sewing/fiber room, one thing that was removed was a large blue Rubber Maid bin that contained my odd balls and leftover yarns.  It sat under my old desk, which hid a lot of extra storage space – well that is not actually true as the bin was always in the way when one sat at the desk, but it seemed out of the way simply because it was under the desk.

I never moved that bin back into the fiber room.  It has been sitting in the family room where I have been using it as a foot rest when I am sitting in my knitting chair.  In this capacity it served a functional purpose and I learned that a footstool might be a desirable addition to the family room,  but it certainly adding nothing to the family room decor from an aesthetic viewpoint.

And so, now I have a new ottoman.  It fits much more nicely into the decor: rustic woven rattan goes well with my grandmother’s carved leather table and the leopard spotted ultrasuede on the knitting chair.  It is also larger than the blue plastic bin.  The new bin holds my various odd balls, the quantity of which I have been making a concerted effort to reduce. It also has enough extra room to hold all the yarn for any and all current projects which are on the needles.  This means my knitting is actually next to the place where it is knitted!  What a revolutionary concept.

My other significant purchase, knitting wise at any rate, was the current issue of Knit 1.

Now, I have known that Knit 1 was out there on the newsstands but I had never picked one up.  I dismissed it out of hand without really looking…bad move really.  I do try to be a little more open minded and fair than that, most of the time at least.  I think I was feeling overwhelmed by knitting magazines.  I subscribe to several.  I don’t actually feel guilty about the subscription part as I would just buy them at the newsstand if I didn’t subscribe.  But I have been battling my urge to hold onto every knitting magazine that comes into the house.  As I have written before, I don’t after all save every newspaper that crosses or door, or every weekly news magazine.  So recently I have given myself permission to enjoy reading the knitting magazine and allow myself to discard it if there is nothing I wish to save. 

Still, I had been afraid that if I looked at Knit 1, I would like it and have to subscribe.  This may be the case as I do indeed like this issue of Knit 1.  But I knew I would before I bought it as I had looked at Gina’s copy at Thursday knitting two weeks ago and noted that there were a couple of sweaters I would knit.  In fact I bought yarn for one of them. 

And so on to Knit 1.  It was quite entertaining.  I like the articles.  I like the way the patterns are shown in little vignettes.  One thing I have always liked about Vogue Knitting in general is the way they keep up with trends in fashion; they are far better at this than any other knitting magazine I have seen.  Now not everyone is interested in fashion and not every sweater is wearable or even, perhaps, knittable, but I appreciate Vogue’s perspective.  This new magazine is no exception, and this issue at least was quite a pleasure.  Unlike Vogue Knitting, the instruction area seems to be quite well done and is pretty informative.  I suppose this is aimed at a broader knitting audience with more emphasis on new knitters.

And so, I am intrigued.  I think I will buy the next issue when it hits the newsstands in September.

The new Interweave Knits arrived, and it is chock full of sweaters I want to knit, no, need to knit…oh dear, whatever shall I do?

Summer sweaters galore, plus at least one other that I love but which would take substantial math and pattern alteration to make it work for me.  Not that it might not be worth it mind you.

However as I have just spent the last couple of hours poring over the new engineering drawings of "the deck that ate Hyde Park" more math is beyond me.  I know my state of mind may improve, my budget prospects may not however.  There is little to be done.  The cliff exists.  The house is built on the cliff, the pool is attached to the house. The pool is only partially supported, which is why the old pool deck was falling down. 

At least I have yarn for several of these sweaters, some just purchased from the late lamented Yarn Swift, including the dreaded math challenge,  otherwise known as "looking glass".

The sweater itself looks simple and fun to knit.  There is a cable going up the center back as well.  Therein lies the problem.  Even with the general forgiving nature of knits, a cable knit up the center of a balanced sweater will  not go up the center of my own torqued elipse of a form.  Math will be required.  Not insurmountable math mind you, but probably not the kind of math that will result in mindless knitting.

Well there is nothing like a good challenge. I am sure I will get to it. 

Someday.

When I mentioned that the Knitters and the Vogue Knitting
both came on the same day, I fully intended to write about both. But my exposition on Knitters grew too wordy,
as is my wont and so Vogue Knitting got pushed aside. I had every intention of returning to it
right away. But the call of the garden
has been strong, and as usual, life has intervened.

As opposed to the Knitters, I found the Vogue Knitting to be
very interesting even though there are probably no more sweaters in this issue
than I would actually knit than I found in the Knitters.

I had mentioned that I am not going to keep my collection of
Knitters Magazines. Not so Vogue Knitting,
which will definitely grace my shelves for many years to come. I cannot imagine not having these magazines
in my knitting room. I do love looking
through past issues, and although my collection is not complete — I am missing
a few of the early issues as I really wasn’t knitting then — I am quite
attached to it, whether or not I knit sweaters from the issues. Vogue doesn’t really have good technical
information all that often, but what I love about them is the way the combine
knitting and fashion. Vogue Knitting of
all the knitting magazines I have gotten, most consistently and successfully
combines knitting and fashion. Most of
the knitting magazines seem totally out of touch with the world of fashion,
kind of existing in a yarn-market vacuum. That may not be a completely bad thing. Most of us wear the same pretty basic kinds of things most days and
knitting magazines sometimes appeal to that.  Fashion sometimes does silly
things, and yet I still find fashion endlessly fascinating and I love flipping
through the pages of Vogue Knitting. I sometimes wish that the knitting
magazines showed more work inspired by the more interesting things one can find
in the market. The eternal compromise
seems to be how to blend art and craft with fashion, style, and taste and still sell magazines (and advertising space).

Back to Vogue Knitting:

This issue, Spring/Summer 2006, was interesting and
entertaining. There are several sweaters
I think are cute and nice. Unfortunately, a lot of the sweaters I find darling are just that,
darling. I don’t do darling very well,
or feminine, romantic or flirty – looks heavily represented in this issue. I can and do mix a little ethnic, boho,
sporty or dramatic in with fairly classic basics, I am not exactly a purely classic
kind of girl either but definitely not the feminine frilly type. I am more Armani than Ungaro. Throw in a bit of Gaultier, Yves Saint
Laurent (the original), Ralph Rucci and a touch of Dries Van Noten and Issey
Miyake and I would be in style heaven, or at least that is how I imagine
myself. I don’t think I actually pull
that off, more suburban matron if truth be told.

Now I love Ungaro’s combinations of color and texture. I love some of the clothes but they aren’t
me. This issue is kind of like an Ungaro
collection, not style-wise, but because there are lots of things I love but
they aren’t me. Still it is entertaining
and feeds my fantasy life, if not my knitting life.

But what would I knit?

I guess boring is just my middle name. 

And Yves Saint Laurent? He occasionally threw feminine looks in the mix, but they were so
combined with strict tailoring that frilly and girly rarely come to mind. I love the soft tailoring of Armani but I
sometimes miss the hard tailoring of Yves Saint Laurent and Gaultier.  When I was younger that hard sharp tailoring fit well to my body, now that I am softer with more fluff, soft tailoring is nice.  I still miss the lines and angles though.

The spring Vogue Knitting and Knitters arrived on the same
day last week, in fact the same day as the April Vogue and Bazaar as well. Given the cornucopia of browsing materials
and the craziness of my current schedule, I managed to hide the two knitting magazines
for a couple of days before settling down to peruse the offerings.

Aside from always reading Perri Klass’s article, the
Knitters really did not have much to offer. I have decided that I do not need to save all my back issues of Knitters
and they have been removed from the sewing/fiber room and set aside to be
either weeded of patterns and discarded, sold, or given away. It was a hard decision but I have been faced
with too many things in my room and they have become a yoke around my
neck. It is not that there are not
sweaters I would knit, more that I am feeling oppressed by the amount of STUFF
I have accumulated over the years, and I need to reduce the clutter down to
that which I truly love. Knitters did
not make the cut even though I was rather fond of the magazine during the 5 or
so years that Nancy Thomas was the editor. I think it has become much less interesting under its new editorship. The one good thing is that I have noticed
very few drop shoulder sweaters since Rick Mondragon became editor, which
doesn’t surprise me having taken a class he taught many years ago about how to
convert any sweater pattern to a set in sleeve, or at least modified drop
shoulder, and the less than flattering comments he made about the ubiquity of drop-shouldered sweaters.

There were some nice basic sweaters in the mix, many
knittable, wearable, perfectly nice sweaters. There were a couple of sweaters that I liked except that the big ugly
three letter word cropped up; you know the one, BUT… Do I need to elucidate
further? I like the sweater but I think
the yarn is crap and the sweater is designed for this multi-colored yarn and
doing it in something else will require calculation and math. I like another sweater but the neckline is
too wide and the collar is too floppy, the sweater needs more shaping too,
especially in a cotton yarn. .. I could go on but will refrain.

Still, there were a couple of sweaters that I would knit,
including this one:

Cross Country is a nice basic casual shape that I would wear
a lot. It has set in sleeves and some
shaping. I like the nice wide ribbing
and the zipper front. I like the slight shaping at the waist. I also admit that part of what attracts me to the sweater is the color
combination in which it shown. I really
like these colors; the body in a color I love and can wear next to my face
combined with colors that I also love but which are not really so flattering
for me. I am always looking for way to
combine colors in ways that make favorite unwearable colors fit into the
wardrobe. I have a fair number of basic garments in these ginger and paprika
colors that I am always blending in with my lavenders, violets, and blues.

This cable and lace hoodie from Elizabeth Lavold has also
caught my interest, although not as strongly as the cardigan (but what can say
that is at least partly a color thing).  This is a drop shoulder sweater,
not my usual favorite but there are some designs for which it is entirely
appropriate. Looking at the positioning
of the cables however, I could probably adapt this for a little more shaping
through the armscye, which I might like even better, although looking at the
schematic, this does not look particularly broad through the shoulders, so it
might work just fine as it is. One thing
I do like about Elizabeth Lavold’s patterns, at least the ones I have made, is
that they are usually fairly narrow through the neck opening, something I
prefer, as far too many knitting patterns are too wide through the neck for
me. Even as her sizes go up, the neck
stays pretty close fitting and small. 

The cardigan is a wear everywhere kind of garment and the
hoodie, for me at least, is the kind of sweater I would wear to snuggle up on
the deck, by the pool, in the yard, or on the beach on a slightly coolish day. I see myself in the early morning traipsing
around the garden looking at my flowers, cup of coffee in hand in this sweater.
Gee, that image alone is enough to get me to knit this sweater.

When we got back from Tucson last week, I noted that the new Interweave knits was in the bucket of mail that greeted me at the post office.  Despite great temptation I managed to put it in the stack with other magazines and catalogs that bore further perusal and set it aside until I dealt with first class matters and various other tasks and duties of the week. 

Then it slipped my mind…until late last night that is, when I pulled it out and browsed before bed.  There are several interesting projects in here and it is going a long way to improve my opinion of the magazine, which it seems, for a long time, dealt in large shapeless sweaters.  This may have been an erroneous perception as it continues to be popular.  Nonetheless I have continued to subscribe as there is always something of interest and I long ago gave up any expectations that the goals of magazine editors should match my own taste, desires and goals. 

My modus operundi concerning knitting is to knit what I like, what intrigues, and usually what will look good on me, although I sometimes forgo that option and knit something that I know will look terrible just because I HAVE TO TRY IT.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’ve never had trouble getting rid of nice hand knits.

The knitting magazine editors however have different goals;  they must sell magazines, and even more importantly, they must sell advertising space to the yarn companies that keep the magazine afloat. 

I love knitting ads.  I check out the websites.  I look for info on the yarns or books.  I probably read the mags as much, if not more, for the ads as anything else.  In that sense I may be the ideal knitting magazine customer.  I look at ads, I buy books and yarn, I help keep the industry afloat and help the knitting magazines keep going.

But back to the magazine:  there are actually several designs in here I might knit. 

The Sunrise Circle Jacket is really cool (web pattern).  The Drop Stitch Hoodie is nice but I am undecided as to weather I would wear it, Prairie Tunic is lovely, and I like Aran Rose as well.  Breezy Cables is interesting; I would live in that sweater, although I might modify it a bit and definitely use a different yarn.  I’ve just not had a lot of luck with Lion Brand.

I love the cover sweater, Bobble Blue, traditional though it is and Caftan Pullover really intrigues me with its pattern but the sweater itself with its deep opening and no closures would drive me batty.  I might have do something incorporating that design. There are others that tempt (including ads — oh dear). 

It is certainly a source of many hours of happy entertainment when I am too tired to do anything but sit here slumped in my chair looking at pretty pictures.  I often think that what knitting magazines do best is sell dreams.

The new Vogue Knitting arrived and I have had a wonderful time perusing it this weekend.  It is a very good issue, well done with lots of good ideas and interesting patterns.  I thought the last issue was quite good as well although I might not have sounded quite as enthusiastic as I felt when I wrote about it, and this one is even better.

You can link to the magazine here, and photos of some of the patterns are available, unfortunately not all my favorites, a shame because I would love to show them to you.

One thing I particularly like about Vogue Knitting in general, and this issue in particular is the emphasis on fashion as opposed just to knitting.  There are all kinds of knitting magazines and all kinds of knitting information, some trendy, some traditional.  I think traditional knitting skills and patterns are great, but what I often see in craft-based publications, both geared to knitters and sewists, is that they are often not particularly geared to what is going on in the world of fashion at the time they are being published.

Now I know that fashion is not for everyone, and not everyone is interested.  They don’t need to be.  It is true that what most people wear in their day to day lives has little to do with the world of fashion. But I find it interesting.  I like the way this issue combines traditional knitting patterns and skills with some very interesting ideas that are pretty au courant.  Also most of the patterns are technically interesting and wearable, at least in some variation by someone.  I think there is very little here that someone wouldn’t want to try. In fact I can envision someone wearing almost everything here, not necessarily me.  Taste is so variable, as is style. 

Knitting was not anticipated this weekend, well only a little knitting, as I planned on taking Tesla on the train wiith me on Friday. She and I got along fine, I am much happier knitting her now.  Obviously our misunderstanding was not her fault, just my own inner angst and frustrations being taken out on innocent yarn.  She is still not the speediest knit but she is a relaxing and pleasant one.  Here she is, almost 1/3 of the way through the first sleeve:

I met Mary at Mood.  We looked at fabric, purchased some too, and headed off for an early lunch at Union Square Café.  It had been months since we had gotten together and had lots of talking to take care of.   Lunch was pretty good too.  I had seared foie gras with tiny sauteed seckel pears and the most stunningly silky buttery braised cabbage ever.  I followed that with a salad, a wonderful salad, with apples and beets.  It was the potatoes that stole the show though.  I could sit there and chat and nibble on those garlic potato chips forever, especially with an excellent glass of wine.  Mary picked the wine.  She always chooses something wonderful.

Afterwards, we stopped at the Anthropologie store on the corner at 6th Avenue.  We were attracted by a pretty crocheted sweater in the window.  Once inside however I happened on this one: 

and it came home with me.  I love this sweater.  I love the pompom trim made up from strands of yarn.   I love the front shawl collar and band and how it is knit.  I see lots of inspiration here, triangular panels mixed with lace, beads…oh the ideas keep tumbling around.  It’s worth it just for the inspiration and it looks nice on too.

Pretty cool Huh!

On my way to the train I stopped to buy a bottle of water and just had to take a quick look at the magazines too.  I spotted this German knitting magazine that I had not seen before.  Quickly it went into my bag and I ran for the train.

I was surprised that I really liked the magazine.  There are at least 6 or 8 sweaters I would love to knit in here, and many more that I find inspiring in some way or another.  Of course there are 80 patterns in the magazine, which seems amazing.  The instructions may not be all that clear.  It is hard for me to tell, I really don’t know German.  I figured out the yarn descriptions and the gauge  on the train.  There are some charts.  I assume that between Knitting Languages and George I will figure it out.  Of course George will tell me he speaks the German of a 10 year-old-boy and he did not knit; he may or may not be much help.

Today has been painting day.  We finished painting the foundations of the house and the front of the garage and I also started scraping paint off a couple of old decorative ceramic pots that need to be repainted.  It was the perfect day to be outside working on the house together, and that’s even better than knitting.

I am certain that there is a black hole in the back of the Hyde Park Post Office.  It has sucked up my new Vogue Knitting and the Tuesday and Wednesday editions of the Wall Street Journal, along with whatever other mail I am not aware is missing.  I have sent the lovely employees at the desk scurrying through the post-office looking for my missing mail, insisting that the paper usually comes every day, but no pile or bucket of hidden mail has been found. 

Alas!

Having heard that the new Vogue knitting is out, Liana got hers, I am desperate to have it.  I saw it at Barnes and Noble yesterday when I stopped for a bathroom break and a sudden mad impulse to see if they had a copy of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde  in the music section.  Fruitless I know, but the continued rain had me in mind of biblical disasters.  Granted it did not rain much on Sunday and Monday, thank goodness, because we had 10 inches on Saturday, more than I ever recall on a single day.  I think it did not rain as heavily yesterday, but I was thinking as I drove through the downpours, and splashed through the puddles, rivers, and lakes that had once been parking lots, that 40 days of this could be quite significant. 

Meanwhile I did not buy the Vogue Knitting.  I was certain it would be in mailbox waiting for me.  No such luck.  There was an InKnitters, which had a couple of interesting ideas, but did not satisfy my craving.  If it does not appear by tomorrow, or at the latest, Saturday, I will have to venture out to the store, the craving will be too strong and my resolve will surely be broken. 

Oh wait, I can’t go to the store on Saturday, I am going to the sheep and wool festival.  Damn! Damn! Damn!.  Adams has agreed to order my Old Chatham Sheepherding Company yogurt for me and it will come in on Friday afternoons so I can’t go grocery shopping till then.  Well, I could make an extra drive up to Kingston. or I could just go later, after the sheep and wool festival.  Tomorrow afternoon I am going in to NYC for dinner and a symphony concert.  No shopping.  I hope to be at the Rhinebeck Fairgrounds early Saturday.  How did I get in this mess???  Well, who needs food anyway, and I have enough yogurt to get me through the weekend at any rate.  It is my secret vice that yogurt.